Thanks, Mark!

 

sunday

100 years ago today : 2 January 1905, the Japanese captured the Russian port of Port Arthur.

The Russo-Japanese War was a conflict fought at sea and on land in Korea and Manchuria as both nations competed for influence and territory in northern China. The naval base at Port Arthur (or in Chinese Lushun) had been seized by the Russians from the powerless Chinese in 1898 as a warm water port for it's Pacific Fleet. The Japanese did not want Russia to have this new military capability and attacked Russian forces in northern China in February 1904. In August the Japanese laid siege to the Russian garrison in Port Arthur. With communications and supplies by land and sea cut off the Russians surrendered on 2 January 1905. 

Didn't Roosevelt gain a nobel Peace Prize for working out the Peace settlement between the Japanese and the Russians?

Yes, in 1906. He mediated between the two sides and was instrumental in drawing up the Treaty of Portsmouth signed in September 1905. 

We all know about the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, but it wasn't the first time they'd done something like that. On the evening of 8/9 February 1904 a Japanese Fleet attacked the Russian Far Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur without warning. In terms of losses and casualties it could not compare to Pearl Harbour, but it succeeded in crippling the Russian Fleet and temporarily blocking the entrance to the port.

 

 

100 years ago today : The "Bloody Sunday" massacre in St Petersburg. Following the loss of Port Arthur and the disastrous conduct of the war with Japan there was a general call for a swift end to hostilities from the Russian people. On Sunday 22 January an enormous crowd estimated at 120,000 marched on the Winter Palace in St Petersburg to speak to the Tsar. Their aim was to present a petition demanding an end to the war and the removal of the "despotic and irresponsible government". It was a peaceful demonstration with many carrying religious banners, crosses and icons along with national flags and portraits of the Tsar. Others sang hymns or "God Save the Tsar". As it approached the Palace the soldiers deployed to defend it panicked and opened fire. Within minutes hundreds lay dead or wounded. The official figures were 92 killed and several hundred injured, but in reality the numbers were several times higher.

It is seen as the turning point in Russian history. The Tsar lost the support of the people from that day.   

100 years ago today on 26 January 1905 the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond in the world, was discovered. It was found in the Premier Mine near Pretoria, South Africa and named after the mine owner Sir Thomas Cullinan. It was bought by the government of Transvaal to be presented to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday in 1907. It weighed 3106 carats or 1lb 8oz. It was sent to Asscher's of Amsterdam to be cut and when the task was finished there were nine major pieces and 96 smaller brilliants. All nine larger stones remain in GB, either incorporated into the Crown Jewels or set into jewellery belonging to the Royal Family.